Newsday--my local newspaper--wants to know if my turkey has chutzpah?
Chutzpah or chutzpeh means brazenness, gall or nerve.
Ruth and Bob Grossman defined ‘hutzpah' as follows: What Molly had when, just
before she went down to a size 18 dress, she bought a bikini.
Marnie Winston-Macauley ("The Joys of Yiddish") writes, "Mrs. Farber had the
chutzpah to shlep her own turkey to our house on Thanksgiving."
Many Jews and non-Jews and their language associated turkeys with chickens.
So, a speaker might pronounce the word for turkey as "hindik," not "indik," which
may indicate that they associate the bird with the chicken, the Yiddish word for
which is "hon."
So, let's look at these Yiddish words:
"kalter indik" (cold turkey)
"tzu reyden tachlis" (to talk turkey)
"holdern" (to gobble; to make the sound of a turkey)
The Butterball's Turkey Talk Line is adding men to its holiday hotline.
The line has grown from six operators to about 60, but has never hired men.
Yes, more and more men are involved in Thanksgiving dinner. One in four calls
are from men. So any man with a background in food or nutrition or who has a
culinary degree can apply.
What kinds of questions should a spokesman be prepared to answer? this year?
What is "Thanksgivukkah"? (This year's convergence of Thanksgiving and Chanukah has been trademarked as "Thanksgivukkah."
What is the best way to thaw a frozen ("farfroyrn") turkey? Johnny Carson said, "Blow in its ear." Carson also said, "A two-pound turkey and a fifty-pound cranberry--that's Thanksgiving dinner at Three-Mile Island."
In what TV sitcom did Robert confront Peter during the Thanksgiving pageant, rip off his shirt, and proclaim, "I'm Squanto!"? (In this same sitcom, Marie makes a tofu turkey. Ray, behind Marie's back, orders a complete holiday dinner.)
Answer: "Everybody Loves Raymond"
The following are true conversations heard by Talk-Line staffers:
When a staffer asked a caller what state her turkey was in (meaning how thawed was it), the caller responded with "FLORIDA."
A caller explained that Thanksgiving with her first husband ("der man") was a bust
since she forgot to thaw the turkey. She blundered Thanksgiving with her second
husband when the foil pan she was using bent and slipped out of her hands leaving
the feast on the floor. She was hoping the third time would be a charm so she called
the Butterball Talk-Line to make sure she was doing everything right. "Zi farmacht
nit dos moyl." (She doesn't stop talking.)
After discovering a turkey from 1969 in his dad's freezer, an Alabama man called
the Talk-Line staffer to ask about the best way to cook the 30+ year-old bird. The
staffer recommended the "ofn" (open) roasting pan method to cook most turkeys.
However, this time she suggested that the first step was a purchase a "frish"
(fresh/new) fowl. BTW, this same man also had in his freezer the top of his wedding
"lekekh" (cake) and a snowball from every snowstorm he'd experienced in Alabama.
A woman in her 70s, cooking Thanksgiving for the "ershter" (first) time, called for
help because her mother said she was tired of cooking and it was time her "tokhter"
(daughter) learned how to prepare the Thanksgiving meal.
A gentleman called to tell the operator he cut his turkey in half with a chain saw
and wanted to know if "der eyl" (the oil) from the chain would adversely affect
the turkey.
A disappointed woman called wondering why her turkey had no "brust" (breast)
meat. After a conversation with the Talk-Line operator, it became apparent that
the woman's turkey was lying on the table "mitn kop arop" (upside down).
Note: You can't make up a story like this!
A mom called in and told the operator about how her little girl had asked if they
could slow-roast the turkey for 3 or 4 DAYS because she liked how it made the
house "reyakh" (smell). The experts at the Butterball line told her that the turkey
should only stay in "der oyvn" (the oven) for a few hours and that it wasn't a good
idea to leave it cooking for four days!
And the final Thanksgiving story:
A lady was picking through the frozen turkeys at her supermarket, but couldn't
find one big enough for her family. She asked a stock boy, "Do these turkeys get any
bigger?" The stock boy replied, "No ma'am, they're dead!"
"Dos iz alts." (That's all.)
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MARJORIE GOTTLIEB WOLFE wishes her readers a Happy Thanksgiving/
"Thanksgivukkah."
___________________________________________ Marjorie Gottlieb Wolfe is the author of
two books:
"Yiddish for Dog & Cat Lovers" and
"Are Yentas, Kibitzers, & Tummlers Weapons of Mass Instruction? Yiddish
Trivia." To order a copy, go to her
website: MarjorieGottliebWolfe.com
